November 2018

IPCC SR15 report and Talanoa Dialogue

outcomes should ratchet up local poverty
reducing climate actions and inform
finalization of NDC guidelines and the
Paris Rulebook

East African Civil Society

Policy brief
Key messages
1. COP24 should make use of the ‘eye-splitting wake-up call’ raised by the IPCC 1.5°C Special Report, starting with
existing mechanisms like Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) and Talanoa Dialogue to
put in place what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C within the scope of
science and human capability

2. Parties should allow observer organizations to participate in the transparency framework, modalities for the
accounting of Climate Finance that have advanced under SBSTA, must be integrated with the transparency
framework; and provision of further guidance for accounting of different NDCs and Accompanying information
(given the diversity of NDC types) and guidelines for reporting on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation should be
provided for.

3. At COP24, the general design of the Global Stocktake must be finalized to ensure that it provides the momentum for
the much needed global ambition to step up climate action

4. Parties should agree on a political declaration and a COP decision on the Talanoa Dialogue that “sends a strong
political message” to strengthen a global response to climate change; and the Talanoa Dialogue should be
institutionalized within the UNFCCC processes, as one way to sustain stakeholder engagement, information
exchange and action learning

5. Robust and transparent accounting rules for climate finance are needed from COP24; contributor countries should
to pledge ‘real’ money (commit to major new funds for adaptation in developing countries and significant increase
in the adaptation finance) they provide, that is predictable to enable to help vulnerable countries fully implement
their NDCs. COP24 should also agree to facilitate access to climate finance by further streamlining and simplifying
the application, approval and disbursement processes of the Green Climate Fund (ensure first replenishment is
ambitious, fair and mindful of the needs of developing countries) and the Global Environment Facility; and also
start the process to define the post-2025 collective finance goal, to make sure it will be adequate and reflect the
needs of developing countries

6. Parties should adopt constructive guidelines for NDCs, including guidance for features of the NDCs (additional
guidance is desirable), for the information in the NDCs to facilitate their clarity, transparency, and understanding, as
well as for the accounting used. Elaboration of guidance is needed for some features, beyond what is possible at
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COP24 (should take off without delay).

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Background
In May 2018, Parties left the Bonn session with several
different types of text: informal notes organized under
different headings and structures, conveying parties’
divergent views in differing formats. The extra session held
in September 2018 in Bangkok, brought some coherence to
this textual chaos. In some cases, parties produced draft
negotiating text with options that clearly outline parties’
differing positions. Nevertheless, the compilation text
produced in Bangkok contains 307 pages, which is unwieldy
but provides a basis for negotiations in Katowice (ENB
Reporting, September 2018).
In Bonn, Parties also engaged in a facilitative dialogue
(Talanoa Dialogue) to take stock of the collective efforts
towards the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal so as to
inform Parties on the preparation to update their Nationally
Determined Contributions. In their conclusions from Bonn,
the APA, the SBI, and the SBSTA agreed that their Presiding
Officers should prepare a joint reflections note addressing
progress made at this session, and identifying ways forward,
“including textual proposals” to help advance parties’
deliberations towards the PAWP; and the purpose of this
joint note is to address all PAWP matters so as to ensure
their “balanced and coordinated” consideration, and
facilitate successful completion of the PAWP at COP 24. This
Presiding Officers’ note informed the “pre-COP” meeting to
that was held 24-27 October 2018 in Krakow, Poland.
In September 2018, progress in the ‘additional’ negotiations
in Bangkok has been dubbed by many as ‘uneven.” While it
has been rated low by some, others have noted
optimistically, that the Bangkok session was not intended to
resolve issues, but rather to clearly establish negotiating
positions and options. One of the pending matters from
Bangkok is the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP).
With the outcome of the Bangkok session, a key question for
negotiators is how to take this forward to ensure the
PAWP’s adoption at COP 24.
In December 2018, Parties to the UNFCCC will have to
determine the operational details of how mitigation is
measured, financing accounted, and transparency assured as
part of rolling out the Paris Agreement. Without this among
other issues,
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the much needed ambition to move towards the
collective goal of limiting global temperature increase to
well below 2˚C will not be achieved. But these issues must
work on their own, and at the same time fit together
coherently.
During the High-level Ministerial Talanoa Dialogue at
COP24, Parties will commit to step-up their ambition and
enhance national climate targets by 2020. Essential to
stepping up climate action are tools for implementation.
Predictable, sustainable and transparent finance, both
public and private is at the core of climate action and it is
necessary for developing countries to fully implement
their NDCs and instill trust in the Paris regime.
At the same time, clarity on the delivery of finance is vital.
The Green Climate Fund board meeting in October agreed
to a replenishment process in 2019 and sent a clear signal
that the fund is back on track with a commitment to
deliver US$1 billion for climate action in developing
countries. At COP24 there is need for additional signals
on predictability and accountability to make the Paris
Agreement work
On 8 October 2018, the long awaited publication by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):
‘Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse
gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening
the global response to the threat of climate change,
sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate
poverty’ (1.5°C Report) must be urgently ramped up to
avoid further catastrophic effects in higher risk regions
like East Africa.
This position paper to COP24 Negotiators, is prepared by
INFORSE East Africa, to highlight the importance of the
IPCC 1.5°C Special Report and the Talanoa Dialogue in
raising ambition for climate action in East Africa and
globally, as well as finalizing the NDC guidelines and other
rules needed to make the Paris agreement operational.
INFORSE East Africa believes that NDC guidelines and
other issues in the Paris Rulebook will be useful for many
countries to improve their NDCs until 2020, following the
Talanoa Dialogue for increased ambition.
 Issues and recommendations for COP24 negotiators

Make use of the ‘eye-splitting wake-up call’ raised by the IPCC 1.5°C
Special Report

The IPCC report on 1.5°C is a warning bell alerting humanity to the

urgency of the climate change crisis. The report shows that even half a
degree of warming makes a huge difference in terms of impacts; more
than was previously known. The report further demonstrates the tools
needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C are
within the scope of science and human capability. It is economically and
technically feasible, but there is need for political will right now through
existing UNFCCC mechanisms inter alia:

 The Talanoa Dialogue must send a strong signal to step-up climate

ambition: through a COP Decision to respond to paragraph 23 and 24
of Decision 1/CP21 to update current NDCs by 2020; informed by the
Talanoa Dialogue and reflecting progression over time; and through a
Co-Chairs of the process (Presidencies) report on the Pathways to
Action outlining specific and actionable key steps, responding to each
of the questions raised in the Dialogue separate from a more
technical summary by the UNFCCC Secretariat;
 Fully operationalize the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss
and Damage (WIM) for urgent support required by the most
vulnerable countries, in order to avoid further severe damages. COP
24 must also deliver high-level guidance for the review of the WIM in
2019, including a need-assessment for loss and damage finance.
This Policy brief has been developed by INFORSE East
Africa Members (Sustainable Environmental
Development Watch-Kenya; Uganda Coalition for
Sustainable Development and Tanzania Traditional
Energy Development Organization) and Devolution
and Climate Change Adaptation in Western Kenya
programme partners (DaCCA). It aims to reiterate the
importance of local actions for poverty reduction in
NDCs during COP24 in Katowice (Poland) to advance
the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) from
the September 2018 Bangkok session.
Talanoa Dialogue Process
 At COP24, Parties should agree on a
political declaration and a COP decision on
the Talanoa Dialogue that “sends a strong
political message” to strengthen the global
response to climate change
 In addition, we propose that due to its
inclusiveness, ability to increase learning
and sharing of information amongst the
global citizens, the Talanoa Dialogue should
be institutionalized within the UNFCCC
processes, as one way to sustain
stakeholder engagement, information
exchange and action learning
The Global Stock take
 At COP24, the general design of the global
stocktake must be finalized to ensure that it
provides the momentum for the much
needed global ambition to step up climate
action. This can only be achieved by a global
stocktake whose outcomes include strong,
specific and useful political signals and
information on gaps, opportunities, and
benchmarks based on science and equity.

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Transparency Framework / Rules NDC Guidelines

 Parties should recognize the value of allowing observer organizations to  Parties should adopt constructive guidelines for NDCs,
participate in the transparency framework. The framework should including guidance for features of the NDCs, for the
follow experience from other successful multilateral processes such as information in the NDCs to facilitate their clarity,
Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, by enabling transparency, and understanding, as well as for the
observer organizations with expertise to participate in the facilitative, accounting used in the NDCs. This includes, but not
multilateral consideration of progress. limited to the following, that NDCs:
 Transparency of Support: Negotiations on modalities for the accounting a) Are in line with the long-term temperature goal
of Climate Finance that have advanced under SBSTA, must be integrated (1.5°C). In practice, this requires that NDCs are
with the transparency framework. This should ensure reporting at developed in the framework of national Long-
project-by-project level, reporting of grant-equivalent for non-grant Term Low-Carbon Development Strategies;
instruments, reporting of actual climate-specific (proportion of) funds, b) Contribute to sustainable development and
showing how the financial contributions by developed countries poverty eradication. In practice this requires their
represent a progression beyond previous efforts and are new and integration into national development strategies
additional, and mutual agreement between countries about and the implementation of Sustainable
projects/funds to be included in future reports. Development Goals (SDGs);
 Transparency of Action: This can only be enhanced by clear accounting c) Are based on equity;
rules. Due to the diversity of NDC types, a single system for tracking d) Include leadership by developed countries as well
progress on the implementation of NDCs, and aggregating and as encouragement for developing country Parties
comparing them, will be challenging to design. There should be to move towards economy-wide absolute
provision of further guidance for accounting of different NDCs and emission reduction targets;
Accompanying information. There should be guidelines for reporting on e) Reflect the highest possible ambition while
Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation adjustments enhance ambitions;
f) Include unconditional components and can
Climate Finance include conditional components. Parties should be
strongly encouraged to not only offer strong
 In order to make contributor countries pledges ‘real’ money (commit to unconditional contributions but also to share in
major new funds for adaptation in developing countries and significant their NDCs the specific barriers that prevent them
increase in the adaptation finance), robust and transparent accounting from achieving even more with their NDCs;
rules for climate finance are needed from COP24. This will help to g) Consider the support provided to developing
provide full transparency on the actual assistance provided (for instance country Parties for the implementation of their
reporting on ‘real’ money in terms of grant equivalents that excludes climate strategies;
some instruments such as non-concessional loans) that will feed into the h) Are made with accounting that is based on
transparency mechanism of the Paris agreement. environmental integrity, transparency, accuracy,
completeness, comparability and consistency,
 All countries should use COP24 to set expectations to ensure the first
without double counting; and
replenishment of the GCF is ambitious, fair and mindful of the needs of
i) The features should clearly specify the
developing countries, including to fulfil their NDC commitments; while
implementation timeframe
contributor countries should provide as much quantitative and
qualitative information as possible, and set up a process to make this  For some features, elaboration of guidance is needed
information useful. beyond what is possible during COP24 (should take off
at COP24). This elaboration shall assist countries
 In order to fast track global climate action, COP24 should agree to
further in developing robust NDCs that are transparent
facilitate access to climate finance by further streamlining and
in their accounting that can also be integrated in
simplifying the application, approval and disbursement processes of the
national development strategies.
Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility.
 Countries should also start the process to define the post-2025
collective finance goal, to make sure it will be adequate and reflect the
needs of developing countries. CONTACTS:
References SusWatch Kenya (DaCCA Sec) TaTEDO (INFORSE EA Sec)
P.O.Box 7659-40100 P.O.Box 32794
1. ENB Vol. 12 No. 733 (12 September 2018)
2. CAN Annual Policy Document (Oct 2018) Kisumu, Kenya Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
3. IPCC 1.5 °C special report, Summary for Policymakers 6 October 2018 Tel: +254202584757 Tel: +255222700438
4. Least developed countries ministerial communiqué on climate change (October 17, 2018)
5. Centre for Science and Environment (2018). IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C Email: suswatchkenya@gmail.com Email:energy@tatedo.org
Assessment and Recommendations
6. LDC Ministers Outline Group’s Priorities for COP 24, Call for Enhanced Ambition
http://sdg.iisd.org/news/ldc-ministers-outline-groups-priorities-for-cop-24-call-for-enhanced-ambition/
Uganda Coalition for Sustainable SustainableEnergy
accessed Nov 2, 2018 Development-Rio and beyond Klosterport 4F,1 sal
P.O.Box 27551 Kampala, Uganda DK-8000 Aarhus C
Tel: +256 414269461 Tel: +4586760444
Email: ugandacoalition@infocom.co.ug
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